Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

1975 - This one was hard to narrow down. There were a lot of great games this year, almost a handful of them every weekend. I was forced to leave off a number of worthy candidates, including an opeining-day Chiefs-Broncos high-scoring tilt with a fantastic finish, overtime shootouts between the Cowboys-Cardinals and Cowboys-Redskins, the Packers' last-minute upset over Dallas, a terrific OT game involving Oakland and Atlanta, a Bills win over the Jets on a touchdown bomb from Ferguson to Simpson, and Pastorini throwing TD pass on last play to down the Raiders. Just a fantastic year with three of the most hotly-contested divisional races of all time in one season.

10/26 - Dolphins 35, Bills 30
Bills appear to finally have their biggest nemesis on the ropes, but late two-TD rally saves Fins again.

11/9 - Colts 42, Bills 35
O.J. Simpson cruises for three touchdowns in first to give Buffalo 21-0 lead, but Colts tally three of their own in final frame in game featuring 900 yards total offense.

11/16 - Cardinals 20, Redskins 17 in OT
Cards controversial last second game-tier key in division title race.

11/16 - Oilers 20, Dolphins 19
Ronnie Coleman's tackle breaking run in final minute, a Whiteshoes punt-return TD, and two blocked PATs by Bubba Smith earn Oiler upset and prove fatal to Miami's sixth straight playoff bid.

11/30 - Browns 17, Saints 16
Mike Phipps leads 97-yard, 8 minute game winning drive after Browns trailed by 13 in fourth.

11/30 - Redskins 31, Vikings 30
Redskins hand Vikings first loss by blocking a Cox field goal in final seconds after rallying to take lead.

12/21 - Colts 10, Dolphins 7 in OT
In big shpwdown for AFC east title Bert Jones drives Colts 86 yards in fourth and then 82 yards in OT for win.

12/28 - NFC Divisional Playoff - Cowboys 17, Vikings 14
"Hail Mary" enters the football lexicon.

12/28 - AFC Divisional Playoff - Raiders 31, Bengals 28
Raiders survive scare as furious Bengals comeback falls short.

1/18 - Super Bowl X - Steelers 21, Cowboys 17
First genuine classic in the big game.

CSKreager wrote:

Todd Pence wrote:1974

9/16 - Bills 21, Raiders 20
Three touchdowns and a missed field goal in the final two minutes make for one of the greatest MNF games of the decade.

It needs to also be mentioned that this was the Raiders' only MNF loss of the 1970s and one of only 2 MNF losses they had from 1970-1981 (Chargers 1981 reg. season finale)

This was one of my most vividly remembered Monday Night Games. O.J. was injured on the sidelines and with the Raiders up 13-7 late in the game, the camera panned on Joe Ferguson and Frank Gifford said, "It's up to the young quarterback Joe Ferguson whether the Bills can win."

On a fourth and goal, Ferguson hit Ahmad Rashad (his best throw of the night) to put the Bills ahead 14-13. The Raiders couldn't move after the kickoff and punted. On the next play, Bills FB Jim Braxton fumbled (which he often did) and a Raider ran it in for a touchdown.

Ferguson moved the Bills downfield and hit Rashad (who beat Willie Brown badly) for a TD making it 21-20, Bills. In the last seconds, Stabler moved the Raiders passed midfield but George Blanda missed a long FG as time ran out.

It might have been the most dramatic MNF game up to that time.

For 1975 I chose in order Super Bowl X, the Week 14 Vikings Bills game, the AFC Championship game, and the Washington Dallas game from 11/2. To defend my choices, Super Bowl X was a no-brainer, it was the first Super Bowl that turned out to be a really good game and lived up to the hype. The Vikings Bills game was interesting to me in that you had OJ and Chuck Foreman locked in a battle to break Gale Sayers single season TD mark, and Tarkenton also breaking the career TD pass mark. I wish there was more video footage of the game available besides the NFL Films Game of the Week, and I mostly had to rely on newspaper reports and no play by play and no radio broadcast available. The AFC Championship between Pittsburgh and Oakland was a classic, and along with the 1976 season opener between these two teams, were the two dirtiest played football games of my lifetime. There were numerous cheap shots on both sides, mostly by Oakland side in the 1975 game, by the rematch in 1976 the Steelers got more involved. Nonetheless, the 1975 AFC Championship was a hard hitting game played in harsh conditions and the game was in doubt until the very end, and it was also George Blanda's final NFL game. There were several games I considered for the fourth game, including the 10/19 Bengals Raiders game and the 11/30 Washington Minnesota game where Washington ended Minnesota's hopes of an undefeated season. I settled on Washington vs. Dallas, but did preliminary work on a piece about the Bengals Raiders regular season game. Since I didn't use it, I'll reprint it here. Note it was written about three years ago, when I felt Stabler would probably not make the HOF:

Fourth Place: Oakland at Cincinnati, Week 5, October 19

It seemed like 1975 was destined to be the Bengals season, when they would finally break thru after their 1973 division title and disappointing 7-7 season in 1974, and after four games they were on top of the AFC Central with a 4-0 record, and it looked like everything had jelled for them. Oakland had lost the two previous AFC Championship games, and won four of the last five AFC West titles, and had little competition within their division. Both had powerhouse offenses, led by stellar QB’s; Ken Anderson will eventually be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in my opinion (he should have been inducted years ago) and Ken Stabler is more of a Hall of the Very Good type who was unbeatable in the mid 70’s. It was rainy in the Queen City this day with temperatures in the high 40’s, and the game turned into a defensive battle that featured four interceptions each from Stabler and Anderson; there were a total of twelve completions in the game but eight interceptions.

Cincinnati won the coin toss and elected to receive. Lamar Parrish took Ray Guy’s kickoff at the Bengal six and broke left before Neal Colzie knocked him out of bounds at the Oakland 30 after a return of 64 yards. Runs by Boobie Clark and Essex Johnson combined for 10 yards and a first down, and a run by Johnson for 12 yards was negated by a Holding penalty against the Cats. Anderson attempted three passes, completing one to Charlie Joiner for ten yards, putting Cincy back to the 20. Dave Green attempted a 37-yard FG that was wide left.
Two runs by Mark van Eeghen totaled three yards, and Stabler’s third down pass to Clarence Davis was incomplete. Guy punted 52 yards to the Cincinnati 25, where Lyle Blackwood returned the ball 13 yards. Three runs by Johnson, for 4, 3 and 5 yards to put the Bengals at midfield. On first down, Anderson went deep to Isaac Curtis, but Jack Tatum stepped in front of the ball at the last second and got the interception at the Oakland 19.

Davis and van Eeghen ran for three yards each, and Stabler’s third down pass to Cliff Branch was unsuccessful, leading to a punt by Guy to the Bengals 40 midway thru the period. A pass to Curtis on second netted ten yards, but a Holding call against Cincinnati wiped out the gain and instead cost them ten yards. Clark caught a screen for eleven yards on third down, bringing up a fourth-and-eight, and George Atkinson returned Dave Green’s punt to the Oakland 20.

A short run by Davis left the Raiders with a third-and-eight, and the Bengals were flagged for Interference for 13 yards to the 35. A pass to Branch was good for 15 yards to midfield, and a 5-yard run by Pete Banaszak was followed by runs from Clarence Davis for 5 and 4 yards to the Cincinnati 36. Another short pass from the Snake to Cliff Branch gained seven more yards and picked up another first down at the 29. Runs by Banaszak and Davis moved the ball to the 20, and Banaszak converted a fourth-and-one on the final play of the first quarter. An Offside penalty against the Stripes led to a second-and-five, and Banaszak burst for 13 more to the one-yard line. One play later, Davis went right and took it across the goal line to give Oakland a 7-0 lead a minute into the second period.

The Bengals started from their 26 after the kickoff return by Lamar Parrish, but Anderson’s pass on first down was intercepted by Phil Villapiano, with a penalty after the interception giving the Raiders a first down at the Cincy 46. A sack on second down cost the Silver and Black a staggering 22 yards as Ron Carpenter and Sherman White chased the Snake and took him down. There was no way the Raiders could come back from a third-and-29 and Guy boomed a punt that went 58 yards to the Bengals five, which Blackwood returned to the 14-yard line.

Runs by Clark for four yards and Stan Fritts for three more were followed by an incompletion to Johnson on third down. The 43-yard punt by Green left the Raiders at their 34 as 10 minutes remained in the first half. On first down, Stabler aired it out but Ken Riley snagged the pass at the Oakland 47 and returned the pick 20 yards to put the Bengals on the edge of FG range. A pair of six-yard runs by Fritts gave the Bengals a fresh set of downs at the 15, and two more runs by Fritts left Cincinnati with a third-and-five. Anderson ran for it, coming up a yard short. Cincy went for it on fourth-and-one, and Center Bob Johnson dropped the wet ball while trying to snap it, and Villapiano fell on it at the Oakland five.
Playing it safe, Stabler handed off to Banaszak three times for a total of seven yards, and Blackwood returned the punt 16 yards to the Oakland 46. After a short run by Clark, Anderson went deep, but Colzie intercepted at the Oakland 20 as less than four minutes remained in the half.

Van Eeghen ran for seven yards, and a Delay penalty against the Silver and Black cost them five yards. Jess Phillips picked up two yards on the ground, and on third down, van Eeghen gained five yards on a run but came up a yard short of the first down marker. Guy shanked a 15-yard punt, surely one of the worst punts of his career. Cincinnati started from midfield after a Delay flag went against them, and Anderson finally got a deep pass to work, airing it out to Joiner at the Oakland 26 and Charlie took it down to the five-yard line as the two-minute warning was called. A short run by Johnson was followed by a Personal Foul penalty against the Raiders, putting the ball at the one, where Fritts ran it in for the score. With 1:06 left in the half, the Bengals tied the game at seven.

After a Holding penalty against the Raiders on first down, Oakland ran out the remaining time with two runs to Van Eeghen. Despite four first half turnovers, the Bengals had to be satisfied going into the locker room tied at seven.

Davis received Green’s kickoff at the Oakland 2 and returned it 34 yards. Davis picked up five yards on a run on first down, but incompletions on second and third downs led to a short punt by Green to midfield. Two four-yard runs by van Eeghen were followed by a run by Davis that came up a yard short, which brought in Guy, whose punt from the Oakland 42 went for a touchback as four minutes had been played in the third.

Lenvil Elliott was stopped for a seven-yard loss on first down, but hauled in a 10-yard pass from Anderson on second down. An incompletion to Clark on third down preceded an appearance from the punting team, and Green’s 45-yard punt went to the Oakland 33. As on the last Oakland drive, a pair of runs by van Eeghen for four yards each, and this time it was Banaszak who was stopped for a one-yard gain on third-and-two. Guy boomed a punt that went 58 yards for a touchback.

Starting from the Cincinnati 20 midway thru the third period, two runs by Clark, for 13 and 4 yards, were followed by a Holding penalty against the Bengals that put the Bengals in a second-and-16 predicament. An incompletion and a short run by Elliot later, Green’s punt was returned six yards to the Oakland 30 by George Atkinson as five minutes remained in the third period. A run by van Eeghen only gained a yard on first down, followed by an incompletion by Stabler on a pass to Branch. On third-and-nine, Stabler handed off to Davis, who gained nine yards and a first down, but wait, a flag was thrown against Oakland for Illegal Motion, which usually means two men moving at the same time in the backfield. The first down was wiped away and the Raiders faced a third-and-14. On the next play, a Holding penalty cost the Raiders 10 more yards, and on third-and-24 from the 16, Phillips ran for five yards. Guy booted a 52-yard punt that Parrish returned 21 yards to the Cincy 48-yard line.

Anderson threw his fourth interception of the day on first down, with Atkinson returning the stolen pass 14 yards to the Bengals 42. After Davis was stuffed at the line, Stabler dropped back to pass on second down, but the short pass intended for Cliff Branch was intercepted by Marvin Cobb at the Cincinnati 48 and Cobb took it to the house. With over two minutes to play in the third, Cincinnati had a 14-7 lead after Cobb cashed in his 52-yard Pick Six.

Jess Phillips returned the kickoff to the Oakland 31, and Van Eeghen and Davis combined for a first down on two runs, then, Stabler hit Branch for nine yards to midfield. After an incompletion, Banaszak picked up eight yards on third-and-one, and Davis gained 12 more on the ground, to the Cincinnati 30, on the final play of the third stanza. The fourth quarter began with Stabler going to the end zone, but Cobb came down with it and returned the purloined pass 27 yards to the Cincinnati 25. After 45 minutes of play, the Bengals held a seven-point lead.

Fritts and Clark carried the ball for five and one yards, respectively, and the pass to Curtis on third down failed. Green’s punt left the Raiders at their 31-yard line. The Bengals failed to get a first down after an incompletion on third down and Green punted, with the Raiders starting from their 23.

With the interception issues both teams were having, Stabler and John Madden decided to play it safe and go with the running game. Four runs by Van Eeghen gained a total of 22 yards, and Davis picked up ten and six yards on two runs. Phillips picked up six more, and the Raiders had a third-and-four at the Bengals 33. Stabler finally went to the air, connecting with Branch for 15 yards and putting Oakland into the red zone. Runs by Banaszak and Davis were good for four and one yards, respectively, and Stabler’s third down pass to Mike Siani was incomplete. George Blanda nailed a 30-yard FG to make it 14-10 Cincinnati with seven minutes to play.

Three runs by Fritts moved the pigskin 14 yards to the Cincinnati 37, and the Bengals benefitted from an Oakland Holding penalty on a third down incompletion to get a fresh set of downs. Johnson was dropped for a two-yard loss on first down, and Anderson scrambled for five and Clark ran for four more to the Bengals 49; on fourth-and-three, Green got off a perfect punt which was downed at the Raider two-yard line.

After an incompletion on first down, Stabler and Siani collaborated on a 17-yard pass to the Oakland 19, and as two minutes remained in regulation, Oakland picked up 15 yards on an Interference penalty. A pass to Siani was good for 18 more, putting the Raiders just across midfield at the Cincinnati 48. An incompletion to Fred Biletnikoff followed, and Stabler hit Branch for 17 more to the Bengals 31 as a minute remained. On first down, Stabler fired the ball to the Bengals 18 where Jim LeClair intercepted it to snuff the Raiders final scoring try. A run by Fritts was good for 16 yards, and Anderson fell on the ball twice to end the game. The Bengals improved to 5-0 with a 14-10 victory over the Raiders.

1976

9/12 - Raiders 31, Steelers 28
Silver and Black start off championship season with improbable comeback against most bitter rivals, scoring 17 in game's final six minutes

9/26 - Cowboys 30, Colts 27
Thriller between division champs features four fourth-quarter lead changes, Roger Staubach's highest career passing day including typical clock-beating game-winning drive.

10/3 - Rams 31, Dolphins 28
Another career passing day, James Harris' 436, highlights wild second half.

10/10 - Chiefs 33, Redskins 30
Pass off triple reverse with a minute to play sinks the 'Skins.

10/17 - Chargers 30, Oilers 27
Track meet erupts with 44 points in game's final twenty minutes including three Pastorini TD passes, Charger's winning TD comes with two minutes left.

11/14 - Bengals 31, Oilers 27
Poor Houston victimzed again as Ken Anderson throws 47-yarder on fourth down with just seconds remaining.

11/14 - Cardinals 30, Rams 28
Big Terry Metcalf punt return sets up Bakken game-winning FG, completing Cardinals rally from down 8 in fourth.

11/25 - Cowboys 19, Cardinals 14
Thanksgiving classic sees Dallas hold off late Card rally, which dies at 'Boys 5, in game which will be decisive in NFC East.

12/18 - Raiders 24, Patriots 21
Controversial comeback enabled by roughing-the-passer penalty in final seconds.

12/19 - Rams 14, Cowboys 12
Rams' goal-line stand gives them revenge for two previous playoff losses to big D.

For 1976 I have in order:
(1) Pittsburgh vs. Oakland 9/12 - One of the greatest comebacks in one of the greatest rivalries. As hostilities remained from the 1975 AFC Championship game, these two games more than any others led to the 1978 pass interference rule known unofficially as the Mel Blount rule.
(2) New England vs. Oakland Divisional Playoffs - A controversial call prevented the Pats from a major upset. Oakland pulled out a victory in the final seconds.
(3) Dallas vs. Baltimore 9/26 - It took one of Staubach's greatest statistical games to get past Bert Jones and the Colts
(4) Los Angeles vs. Minnesota 9/19 - In an early season game with tremendous postseason implications, Tarkenton was at the Ram 11-yard line with just over a minute to play in OT and inexplicably decided to throw a pass that was intercepted instead of opting for the gimme FG. LA ran out the remaining time and the result was a 10-10 tie.

Todd Pence wrote:1972

10/22 - Jets 24, Colts 20
Why not Namath-Unitas again? Joe does his megabomb heroics late again, hitting Eddie Bell with 83-yard game winner.

I remember the Jets nearly let the Colts off the hook in the dying seconds (game saving tackle at the Jets 2 yard line as time expired). Namath completed a total of 5 passes in that game for 228 yards (still a single game yards per completion record):

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/l ... e_game.htm

By Week 6 Joe Thomas had replaced Unitas with Marty Domres as the Colts starter, so if my math is correct, Joe & Johnny U. only played against each other 3 times (SB III, 1970 Wk. 5 & 1972 Wk. 2).

Todd Pence wrote:1974

12/15 - Jets 45, Colts 38
If Joe Willie had been able to play all his games against the Colts, he might have really been a bona fide HOF candidate.

If Namath had retired after 1974 (as was rumored), there would be alot fewer questions about his HOF legitimacy. The Jets made him the highest paid NFL player in 1975, but Joe was done and so were the Jets.
It's hard to get excited about two 1-7 football teams, but I'd probably find a place for the 1974 Week 9 Jets-Giants overtime (26-20) thriller. As was mentioned earlier, the 10/13/74 Dolphins @ Redskins game was really a classic. Had Sonny Jurgensen been healthy for Super Bowl VII, would George Allen have pulled Billy Kilmer in the 2nd half?

http://realredskins.com/2009/06/29/forg ... nny-day-2/

Retro Rider wrote:

Todd Pence wrote: If Namath had retired after 1974 (as was rumored), there would be alot fewer questions about his HOF legitimacy. The Jets made him the highest paid NFL player in 1975, but Joe was done and so were the Jets.

It is amazing how much Namath gets battered by people born after he retired and who haven't truly studied his career. If Namath chose to retire after 1973, he would be looked at as having had a great, short career like Gale Sayers, Kenny Easley, Dwight Stephenson, etc. He won some type of award and/or had all-league recognition every year he played in the AFL. He missed a lot of time in 1970, 1971 and 1973. In 1972, he was an All-NFL passer. He would not have retired after 1972. Looking back on it, you wonder why he didn't retire when he got injured again in 1973.

If Easley, Sayers, and Stephenson were able to bumble and stumble around for another four seasons would people say, "He would be a bona fide Hall of Fame candidate if..."?

JWL wrote:

Retro Rider wrote:

Todd Pence wrote: If Namath had retired after 1974 (as was rumored), there would be alot fewer questions about his HOF legitimacy. The Jets made him the highest paid NFL player in 1975, but Joe was done and so were the Jets.

It is amazing how much Namath gets battered by people born after he retired and who haven't truly studied his career. If Namath chose to retire after 1973, he would be looked at as having had a great, short career like Gale Sayers, Kenny Easley, Dwight Stephenson, etc. He won some type of award and/or had all-league recognition every year he played in the AFL. He missed a lot of time in 1970, 1971 and 1973. In 1972, he was an All-NFL passer. He would not have retired after 1972. Looking back on it, you wonder why he didn't retire when he got injured again in 1973.

If Easley, Sayers, and Stephenson were able to bumble and stumble around for another four seasons would people say, "He would be a bona fide Hall of Fame candidate if..."?

I've come around on Namath as a HOF QB over the years, and the short career argument applies if you remove all the games he missed over the years. When he was on his game he was brilliant; he had one of the half dozen greatest passing arms ever made. One of the questions I often ask myself with a short career due to injury type like Earl Campbell or Sayers is how unique the player is - Am I seeing somebody whose likes I have never seen before and will never see again and who I have to appreciate during the short time he is around. In Namath's case, it is a resounding "Yes." In many cases the player accomplishes enough during his short window (like OJ did, whom I consider a short career guy because he didn't do much his first three seasons and his career took off in 1972 until his knee injury in 1977) and Campbell to compile a HOF career, while in other cases like Sayers we have to extrapolate a little and play the "What if" game. In the case of Terrell Davis and Sterling Sharpe, two short career guys who are on the outside looking in, I think you can make an argument for both of them and I think in time both will be enshrined.

The bullet point on his HOF resume that put Namath over the top, in my opinion, was winning Super Bowl III. If the Jets had lost, he would not be in the Hall of Fame.

For 1981 I would like to know who were the top regular season games. Of course, The Epic in Miami (San Diego-Miami) and The Catch (Dallas San Francisco) playoff games would be at the top of any list, but for the regular season I remember two games in particular (without looking up):

- Miami at Dallas (The Cowboys came from behind to win 28-27, Uwe von Schamman missed extra point was the difference).
- Minnesota at San Diego (The Vikings won 33-31, Terry LeCount had maybe the biggest game of his career).

A game that I remember very well was the Dallas-Detroit at the Silverdome. Dallas was leading by 7 with two minutes to play, Eric Hipple threw an 80-yard TD pass to Billy Sims to tie the score. Then the Lions got the ball back and Eddie Murray kicked the winning FG with no time left (later it was found that the Lions had 12 men on the play).

Thoughts?

Teo wrote:For 1981 I would like to know who were the top regular season games. Of course, The Epic in Miami (San Diego-Miami) and The Catch (Dallas San Francisco) playoff games would be at the top of any list, but for the regular season I remember two games in particular (without looking up):

- Miami at Dallas (The Cowboys came from behind to win 28-27, Uwe von Schamman missed extra point was the difference).
- Minnesota at San Diego (The Vikings won 33-31, Terry LeCount had maybe the biggest game of his career).

A game that I remember very well was the Dallas-Detroit at the Silverdome. Dallas was leading by 7 with two minutes to play, Eric Hipple threw an 80-yard TD pass to Billy Sims to tie the score. Then the Lions got the ball back and Eddie Murray kicked the winning FG with no time left (later it was found that the Lions had 12 men on the play).

Thoughts?

1981 had in my opinion perhaps the greatest postseason of any year since the merger; I think you could make an argument for 2008 but I think it comes down to those two as numbers one and two.

As far as other memorable 1981 regular season games, I think the Jets Dolphins 28-28 tie comes to mind, as it demonstrated to the NFL that the Jets were not to be taken lightly. In the 20 regular season games before that tie, the Jets were 5-15, while in the 20 regular season games after that tie, the Jets were 15-5.

The two Colts-New England games which wound up deciding who would get the first draft pick were decided by a total of three points, with Baltimore winning both.

Another great game was the aforementioned Minnesota San Diego game from Week 6 where Tommy Kramer threw four TD passes as the Vikings won 33-31.

The Rams getting two long punt return TD's by LeRoy Irvin to beat the Falcons 37-35,

Dallas beating Philadelphia 17-14 as the Cowboys tied the Eagles atop the NFC East at 7-2 as Philly's season began to unravel.

The Chiefs-Chargers game in Week 9 had tremendous playoff implications. San Diego built up a 19-7 halftime lead, only to see the Chiefs come back to take the lead at 20-19 midway thru the fourth quarter. The Chargers won on a Rolf Benirschke FG with 13 seconds to play. If the Chiefs had won the game and the rest of the season had played out the same way, KC would have won the AFC West and San Diego would have been out of the postseason.

Billy Sims and Little Joe Washington engaged in a rushing battle as they combined for over 300 yards on the ground as Washington beat Detroit 33-31 in Week 10.

In Week 12, it was Sims again, rushing for 119 yards and catching an 81-yard TD pass as Detroit upset Dallas 27-24.

The Jets and Dolphins played another nail-biter, with New York pulling out a 16-15 win (and tying the Dolphins atop the AFC East) as Richard Todd connected with Jerome Barkum on the winning TD pass with 16 seconds to play.

Kramer threw four more TD's, this time in Week 12 against Atlanta, but it wasn't enough as the Falcons won 30-28.

In Week 13 Oakland finally played like the defending Super Bowl Champs when they came back from three TD's down to beat Seattle 32-31.

Week 16 had the NFC Central Championship game where Detroit hosted Tampa Bay, but the Bucs won 20-17.

Needing a Green Bay loss on Week 16 Sunday, the Giants were playing on Saturday and also needed a win over Dallas in Week 16 to snag their first postseason berth since 1963, and they did their part in beating the Cowboys 13-10 in OT.

Also in Week 16, you had the weird play-in game between Green Bay and the Jets, where the winner was in the playoffs and the loser was out, only it affected both conferences. A Jets win put the in the playoffs with the Giants, while a Green Bay win also put Denver in the playoffs. The Jets rolled 28-3.